The Bracelet
by Jimmy 144
Summary: The feeling of devastation. Was everything lost? Would there be any hope. Coulson asks to see Skye in his office. Spoiler Alert for Episode 1.5. Coulson begins to work the problem and there's a new mission. Skye outlines the problem. What's Atlantis?
1. Chapter 1

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**The Bracelet**

She had seen Miles put the bracelet on.

Coulson said, "My office." My heart fell. I might as well have jumped out of the plane at altitude.

Miles was right. I had changed, I wished I was better, but it is still for the good. He certainly isn't who I thought he was. To sell us out, destroy everything, if there ever was really anything there. Just a wishful dream that wasn't real.

I thought it would matter. I wanted it to matter. But when I saw Ward and May I said I was going to Coulson's office they really did not move. I'd never heard them say they were off the clock. Ward hated me. I could understand, but I still did not want it. It wasn't right, even though I said so. It hurt down deep.

"I didn't want anything…" I did not get a chance. Well I still didn't want anything bad to happen to the team. They were…what my only family and I had just walked out on them. What happened to Agent Chen was devastating.

Who would have thought he would go to the heart of the matter. Of course, I was hiding it. It was the only thing I had left. I showed him. Coulson thought it was what I had on them. That couldn't be further from the truth. It was all I had on me.

I was admitted to St. Agnes back in 1989 just a month or two after I was born. April 23rd was now my birth date, but I really did not know when it was. Then the other papers, I had memorized, even a receipt found two years ago. But there were no faces and no names.

I was adamant with him. There was nothing, no records, and no trace of them. My life long search as lead to a single document, my admission to St. Agnes and it's redacted. He was right, redacted by S.H.I.E.L.D. It did not matter. I'll never stop looking. And I know the possibilities, I've thought of them so many times. The pain has been there and may not go away.

And then the hint that my AC was there, "Maybe I can help."

He gave me the box. And walked out.

I was beyond devastated. But maybe, maybe there was hope.

_A/N Hey, another short one after the show. Come join us and post some stories. Reviews appreciated. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**The Admission**

I said, "Maybe I can help."

I gave her the box. I had to. There was no choice, at least not now. And I walked out.

It seemed like there was something there. The parents would be about the same age as May and I. For S.H.I.E.L.D. to redact the information on the admission means what: the parents or at least one of them were S.H.I.E.L.D., Skye was important enough to be hidden by S.H.I.E.L.D. and not just a witness protection program, or Skye is more than what she seems, taken from a lab to protect her and hidden from the dark forces. Well, they are. Centipede certainly is one of them. Would they be after Skye?

I went down to the bar. May was there nursing the last of a drink. Ward held his glass in salute and left. I was actually happy about that. It would be harder to explain with him here. I got out a glass, "Make it a double."

"Is there any other kind?"

"Doc May in?"

"Always. For the team remember?"

You know, I wish I did. "Yeah. So, Skye."

"It figures."

I shrugged and took a sip. "Suppose so. She stuck with us when she didn't have to."

"What and …"

I held up my glass to stop her. I already knew. Lying, it was such a terrible thing. Especially when everyone was trying to accept her. "Yeah."

"So, what do you want?"

"Her past."

"Hacker, Rising Tide…"

I held up my hand this time, "Childhood and before."

"Thought she erased that?"

"We did. S.H.I.E.L.D. took her history."

"What?"

I knew that would get her. Anytime S.H.I.E.L.D. did something seemingly wrong May would get upset. The last event was hard enough. She had been tight with Kwan's family. They went back a long way. She certainly approved the anonymous donation to his family. But then it was the right thing to do. I held up the sandisk, "S.H.I.E.L.D. took the first step and erased her parents and any background."

"So nothing?"

"Well, I said when we went to get her that S.H.I.E.L.D had nothing on her. And now it seems, we made sure of that." I took another sip, actually a long one, "The question is why?"

"But she wants to know he past, not why it was erased. Right?"

"You were always so perceptive."

May looked at me and tilted her head, "You going to help her?"

"First I want to find out why." I took another long one. "It's too easy to guess that she is the long lost granddaughter of Peggy Carter. If she was, there would be no apparent reason for S.H.I.E.L.D. to make all the effort to hide her. You know that."

May nodded, "Three rabbit holes and a lot of wasted time trying to find her."

She was in. I smiled at her, "So, back to the question, why?"

_A/N Well I didn't call it complete and talking of rabbit holes, this seems like an interesting one. Hope you enjoy. Let me know if there are any other rabbit holes, we should explore. Reviews on this one gratefully accepted. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**The List**

I was listening to May's reaction. The question 'why this was done' bothered her.

"So, what was happening back then. S.H.I.E.L.D. was up and running. We were in the middle of the Cold War, well I guess the end of the Cold War. Mistakes were made back then. We lost a lot of good people."

I nodded at that and we made a solemn toast to their memories. May was on a unique roll. I needed more of her perspective. I just let her go.

"Stark was busy as ever trying to make his super weapons. And yeah, that was Howard Stark. Tony was still running around making his mark." May had a sip, "Well, that's a possibility. A kid from Tony that Howard wanted hidden?"

I shook my head at that. I heard from Tony and Pepper that through all the things that Tony had done, having a child was not one of them. But I guess that will be worth a review. Happy would know.

"Well, so Hawkeye had just joined, what the Army? Doubtful. Natasha was just a kid herself. Even Maria Hill was just a kid. All the people under her are younger than her." She took a long drink, "You know we're getting too old for this."

"You, never," I smiled at her.

"Saying old. Dr. Streiten might know. If there was a pregnant S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, he was around back then and could have been the one that treated them. Or Fury."

I could see she was waiting for my thoughts. "Back then Fury was trying to make sense of the Council."

"Has he?"

"Point taken. But then I have no clear insight into the Council. I mean sure they are now attached to the United Nations. That's how we get clearance so fast into any country, like that 0-8-4, no problem." I saw May smile in agreement. "Could any of the Council be involved? Or any of them back then? That's certainly a possibility. But I am still back to the original question, 'Why.' Why would S.H.I.E.L.D. put a new born in a orphanage and redact all information about that action?"

"She doesn't know?"

I knew the answer to that, "While Skye may have had a passing thought about that over time, it is not her focus. She wants to find out who her parents are and their history."

"Well, do you have any ideas?"

"Just the simple ones," when I answered, May nodded at understanding. And I now had a list: Nick Fury, Happy Hogan and Dr. Streiten. It would be a busy morning.

"Okay, so where do we go from here?"

I was now positive. May was going to help. "I think we keep asking around. I am not going to let Skye loose on the S.H.I.E.L.D. network. And I don't think Fitz could get through. But I need you to find out whether one of the possibilities has any truth to it."

May cock her head in question.

"What do you think about Ward?"

May's eyes narrowed, "You mean Skye and Ward?" She saw me nod. "Ward took it hard. It was bad enough that she was still intending to help Rising Tide but her and Miles broke any thought he had of Skye. Why what do you want to do?"

"I need to find out if she is more than just a hacker. Ward was only going to show her how to protect herself."

"You want me to push her?"

I had no choice. If she were going to stay, she would have to be able to take the battle to the opposition. I hated to say it, but for a while I really could not count on Ward to give that 110% to protect Skye. And we would find whether Skye was something more. "Yep," I drained my glass.

_A/N Well still looking at rabbit holes. Let me know if there are any other rabbit holes, we should explore. Hope you enjoy. Reviews on this one gratefully accepted. _


	4. Chapter 4

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**The Mission**

(Skye POV)

If I said I got any sleep, it would be so far from the truth. I didn't want to look in the mirror. I knew my face would be so puffy. I'd like to say I cried myself to sleep, but like I said there was no sleep. It was terrible. Nothing had been worse. Well, that's not entirely true either, everything had been worse.

Here, there was some hope. I had to believe Coulson, my AC…well, I wanted him to be, to accept me again. If he would go through with it, find something more than I could about my real past that would be fantastic. That was my hope. But what I wanted was my AC and I knew there was a chance or I wouldn't have the bracelet. I would be in a box. And I spent all last night working that out and the next.

It was probably a long, long shot, but I wanted a chance to get back in the team. I wrestled that all night long too. I knew that Ward hated me. May thought I was dirt or worse, the coconspirator in the death of her friend. Yeah, well, she hated me too. I don't know about Fitz or Simmons. They probably hated me too. But then they will probably do whatever Coulson says. So, is that chance real, I hope so, but really…

Wow, May. She opened the door of my cabin and said, "Follow me."

I grabbed my sweats and put on my shoes while catching up with her. She went directly to the stairwell and down. I could hardly imagine what was happening. I knew we were not moving. So the thought that I was going for the long jump out of the plane was at least not a possibility.

I followed her to the gym. Okay, so she just wants to punch me out. As respectfully as I could I asked, "What do you need?"

"You."

I went over to her and stood in front of her. "Okay, and what?"

"You're mine now. Do everything I say," she stood there glaring at me.

Oh I know that I'm dead now. Maybe that trip off the end of the plane would be a good idea. Then I found out. There was thirty minutes of stretching exercises, followed by several attempts to defend myself and then an hour of martial arts. There were stances, blocks, throws, strikes, defenses and offenses. It was a whirl and ended with a frontal attack.

May came at me like she was going to kill me for sure. I was fast enough to block the initial knick, side step and block several punches and even land one punch. Next thing I knew I was on my back with May's foot coming at my head.

May held the kick less than an inch from my head. She announced, "Armory in thirty minutes."

I couldn't move. I hurt everywhere. And she thought I was going to fire a gun. This day was going downhill fast.

As she glared at me again from the door of the gym, I got up and struggled up the stairs. I got to say the shower did help. A sausage biscuit and orange juice helped a little too. I could move.

No one was around. I thought about going to the control room and finding out what was happening, but the bracelet held me back. I needed to ask about that. Coulson would have to explain what I could do, cause I was not about to log on and set off an alarm. That would be a bad thing.

And I just figured that out. Bad things were anything that could stop me from being accepted by Coulson and being back in the team. I was actually surprised how fast I came to that conclusion. I wanted this. I started down to the Armory.

I was proud of myself. I shot an entire clip before the signal went out. Coulson announced a meeting in the control room. I ejected the clip. Had that down pretty good. And I followed May to the control room.

Everyone gathered around the center table. Coulson and I were on one side and everyone else was on the other. Yeah, this was going to work well. Moving closer, I asked, "Anything?"

(Coulson POV)

I heard her and shook my head. But we had other problems now. "We have a possible 0-8-4. The U.S. Outpost Perry in Antarctica reported finding something close to a cube and went off the air." I knew Skye would ask.

"So is this like the box thing you were fighting over in the Battle of New York?"

I keyed in a the message and it displayed on the screen, "To answer your question. No more secrets. No one keeps secrets in the team. The Tesseract was the focus in New York. But as you can see in this message, they only referred to a cube found in the ice." I looked at Ward, "Yes, not a cube of ice. Now, the station is currently weathered in. May?"

May changed the displays and made her calculations. "Sixteen hours with an inflight refuel."

Simmons moved the next display, "Weather should be clearing as we land."

"So what are the threats?" Ward asked.

"We don't know yet." I pointed to the bracelet on Skye, "It will be an ornament for now." I watched as she flashed over the screens and keyboard. She was amazing. It wasn't long.

"Well, that's an interesting twist. We got another problem. Ian Quinn's company refurbished the station five years ago and was conducting their own research at the station for several years." She pulled up another display, "The equipment shown on this list pretty well matches the last couple shipments to Quinn's island."

I knew the results of the last shipment. "Fitz, check that and determine whether they could be making another gravitonium."

"Oh, and I should point out that the last message went out in the clear. So to answer your question, any and all of them. Assume the world got that message," Skye concluded.

Ward looked over with a very unhappy look, "So, what does that mean?"

"We have to get there first. May," I nodded to her and she was already headed to the cockpit.

_A/N Well a small mission. It might bring them together or pull them apart even further. Hope you enjoy. Reviews on this one gratefully accepted. _


	5. Chapter 5

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**The Follow-up**

(Skye POV)

I followed Coulson up to his office. We left Ward in the control room. He was reviewing the threat reports from S.H.I.E.L.D. Fitz and Simmons were back down in their lab. They were going through the status reports from the station. Most of them contained fairly detailed reports of the experiments that were being conducted. Fitz was concerned that some of the more prominent scientists would hide their research. I told him that when I got back, I would look for any research that had been sent to a backup server. He seemed to like that idea.

When we got to Coulson's office, I sat in the chair in front of his desk. I tried to be proper and do exactly what they had taught me in the orphanage when potential adopters came to visit.

Coulson began, "I wanted to let you know what I have found so far. I made a list of possible sources Happy Hogan, Nick Fury and Dr. Streiten. Happy Hogan has worked for Stark Industries for years. But I was not able to get a hold of Happy Hogan. Apparently, he is still in recovery. He was caught in an Extremis blast."

I was impressed. Most people that were caught in the blasts were vaporized. That he survived was truly amazing. He must have seen it coming. I was glad. I followed the Iron Man versus Mandarin fight for Rising Tide. It was brutal. And costly, I confirmed that it took down a Vice President. But I also knew why.

I blurted out, "Have they figured out how to use Extremis for what it was intended?"

Coulson cocked his head. He thought about it for a second and answered, "Last I heard there was still a twenty percent fatality rate in initial acceptance. Simmons will know more."

I nodded and stayed quiet, waiting for Coulson to continue.

"You met Fury. I did call him. So now he knows what we are looking for. But we were interrupted by the current mission." He looked over at his desktop display, "I think he'll help us when we get done with this." He looked at me, "There was no indication that Fury knows about your background. But then, I am not sure that anyone can get an indication from Fury if he doesn't want them to."

I understood. The same as Ward, or at least what Fitz said about him.

"So since we got a break, I'll give Dr. Streiten a call."

I watched him reach for the phone. I was so nervous. What if this call was it? Deep down I knew this was too simple. He got right through.

"Yeah, doing fine. So, I came across something that I had not seen before. One of my new team members…"

Okay, I just about lost it when he said my new team member. I was so surprised I missed some of it.

"…S.H.I.E.L.D. redacted all of the information. She has tried over the years to find information about her parents and her past but has nothing.

"Right, she is the hacker from Rising Tide. I would think so too. So the best assumption is that S.H.I.E.L.D. erased everything."

I nodded in agreement. There was nothing out there. I could only hope that some dark file of S.H.I.E.L.D. held the answer.

"Well, I thought you might know…"

_A/N Maybe the Doc does know? Hope you enjoy. After tonight's show, this will likely go AU. Reviews on this one gratefully accepted. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**The Sample**

(Coulson POV)

I had Dr. Streiten on the phone, trying to get something out of him more than just 'Ahs and Ohs'. Skye was waiting patiently in front of my desk. I knew she had great hopes. "Well, I thought you might know…"

"You know I still have to keep doctor-patient confidentiality even over the S.H.I.E.L.D. NDAs."

I winced. He might be trying to hide it. "Yes, I know. I considered that. Let me asked it this way. Back in 1989, without revealing any patients of yours, were there any S.H.I.E.L.D. progeny that were sent to orphanages?"

"Well, to answer part of your question. Yes, there were babies born. I can list off eight or nine happy couples. But I know of no case where both Agents were lost and the child was given to an orphanage."

I halfway expected that, but I did want an answer for Skye. "So…"

"As your team doctor, there is one way to check if she is related to anyone. Ask her for a DNA sample. We'll compare that to the database and see if she has any relatives in S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Okay Doc that's great!" He hung up. I smiled at Skye, "He does not know, but he gave us a chance. If we get him a DNA sample, he'll compare that against the database and see if you have any relatives in S.H.I.E.L.D."

Well, that elicited a response I was not expecting. Skye bolted from her chair and quickly came around the desk flinging her arms around me. "Thank you. Thank you." She ran off down the stairs.

I collected my thoughts and called down to Simmons, "Skye is on her way down to see you. Get a DNA sample from her and send off the results to Doc Streiten. Yeah, thanks."

(Skye POV)

I was so, so happy. My AC was really helping. And this was a real chance. I was amazed that I hadn't thought of it before. The DNA database was getting bigger. To just compare my DNA against S.H.I.E.L.D., well that's great and it does make sense. But then if that did not work, we could compare it against the bigger database too. Sweet.

I bounced into the lab and Simmons was there with Fitz. "Hi."

"Hey Skye, Coulson just called and said to take a DNA sample. What's up?" Simmons was curious.

"Well," I still had a hard time with this. It was my most private piece of me. But I decided if I wanted acceptance, then well, I had to get them to accept all my problems. "I am trying to find my past. You see before I wiped my history from the Internet, S.H.I.E.L.D. redacted everything about me. We are hoping that with my DNA, we might be able to connect with a relative."

Simmons looked at me, "Oh I'm so sorry. I never knew."

"It's okay. Well, kind of okay. My past is the main thing I have been seeking."

Fitz chimed in, "You almost sound like an old Doctor of Archaeology we used to have. He was always searching for something."

Simmons looked over at him, "Fitz."

"Right, sorry."

"So, come over and we'll get a sample."

I went over to the stool by where she was, sat down and held out my arm.

She looked at me and shook her head, "Oh no, this is a lot less painless than that." She smiled and jokingly said, "Even Fitz could do this." She got a long swab, a piece of cotton on a stick, and turned around to me. "Here, just open your mouth. I'll just wipe this against your cheek and put what I get on the petri dish. Then we'll get an analysis and send the results."

"To Dr. Streiten."

I just got that out and May appeared. "Come on, we're on auto now. See you on the mat."

(Coulson POV)

I finished what I could. S.H.I.E.L.D. still did not have any more on what happened at Perry. The outpost had not answered. No one was getting through. I needed answers by any means. I needed Skye back on this.

I got up and walked down to the gym. May and Skye appeared to be trading blows. But as I looked closer, Skye was blocking May and coming closer to getting May. When I opened the door, May was so swift that Skye had no chance. She was down on the mat in a split second.

I heard her, "Hey, no fair. He came in…"

May was swift with her reply, "There is no fair in a fight to the death. Just win." She nodded to me and walked off.

"Skye, I need you to find everything you can about Outpost Perry. We need to get ready for this and so far I not getting anything more than what you gave us."

She looked over at me and held up the bracelet.

"I said that is an ornament right now. It will remain that way."

She smiled at me, "Always did like silver." As she got up and came over to me, she asked, "What do you want first?"

"I need details. A run down of who is there, what they were doing and any leads on the cube."

She started to the locker room door, "Sure, take a little while. I'll let you know."

She left the mat and I went back out the door and headed up stairs. I wanted to check in on Fitz and Simmons to see if they had gotten anything.

(Skye POV)

It seemed like forever. I knew I had been working this for hours now. My stomach was already rumbling looking for supper or lunch, or whatever the next meal would be. But I finally got the major pieces. I hoped it would be enough for Coulson, because I'd already called him.

They all came to the control room. I was using every bit of display we had. I had a map of the outpost on the main wall display and started from there, "I am sure May already knows this from the flight charts." I pointed to the map, "The runway is on the south side of the outpost. It is a small walk from there to the main buildings through this walkway way here.

"From there, there are four main sections of the outpost. Here is the living area including sleeping quarters, recreation room, and dining facility. The outpost can hold well over one hundred people.

"I did get the list of people at the station from the reports last week. It was change over and the main winter crew had left. The summer crew was delayed and is now expected next week. But right now there are seventeen people at the outpost. Doctor Blare is the head scientist on station."

Fitz interrupted, "Doc Blare, he's the archaeologist I was talking about."

That was interesting. This was mainly a weather station. I went on, "There are only six other scientists. The others are the facility maintenance crew.

"So, the main government research seems to be centered in weather observations. While they collect weather information, they are also the main point in Antarctica for maintenance of the weather stations. So a good part of this section is parts and supplies.

"One thing I should mention is that the maintenance routine does allow them pretty well free access to most areas of Antarctica.

"Next is the Deep research area. I call it Deep because they are looking for the bottom of Antarctica. There is the normal plotting of the bottom terrain, pulling samples from the various levels of ice and then those attempts to get at the bottom without disturbing the environment.

"What I'll call the Quinn Research area is the last section. It is the larger of the sections and allows for three main stations of research.

"First was a station that was dedicated to looking for energy sources. There were attempts to find sources of sub terrain heating. I thought they meant old volcanic activity, but I have the reports here for Fitz and Simmons to review.

"Next was a station that appears to be the area they were using to gather gravitorium nuggets. The list of equipment I had earlier, had just been delivered. They were using the Deep sampler to collect the nuggets. The nuggets were brought to the lab and purified.

"And I have to admit that I am still trying to break through the Quinn Research walls to get at their data." I saw Coulson look at me, "I have been trying to do it without being noticed."

He looked serious, "Gloves off. We need to know."

"Got it.

"So, the last area is called Atlantis. I have not gotten many details on it, other than Quinn has spent more money on this than gathering the nuggets.

"Next, we are not alone. Like I said, the summer crew is headed down there. They are currently at Sydney waiting on the weather to clear. The U.S. has two flights headed down. One is about an hour behind us, the other just left from Tampa.

"Then there is the Quinn Research contingent. Based on May's input, we'll get there about twenty minutes before them." I looked over to May.

She added, "And we'll be landing in the storm."

_A/N So getting closer and some options on the mission. Hope you enjoy. And we just went AU. Reviews on this one gratefully accepted. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**The Outpost**

(Skye POV)

Talk about an impatient Coulson, he was walking back and forth in the control room. The only interruption came when I found a bit more information. I had forced my way into Quinn Research's servers. I knew alarms must have been going off. But Coulson said the gloves were off. I was cherry picking, looking for the best looking options, in this case files, and downloading them. Then I would have to see about breaking through again or go on to the next server.

Really Coulson was helping. After I downloaded the files he would go through the contents and tell me whether it look worthwhile. Then he would pass the file on to one of the others of the team. Anything that had a scientific flavor went to Fitz or Simmons. The others were split. Ward got the Deep and gravitorium files. Coulson kept the Atlantis files. May was busy flying now.

In a while May called down, "ETA now one hour. Still no response from the Outpost. Things could be getting bumpy from here in."

Coulson directed over the speaker system, "Okay, everyone collect your findings and meet in the control room in 30 minutes. May let us know when we are on approach."

It was a rush. My fingers were flying. I figured I had another fifteen minutes before I had to explain the things I found along the way. I finally got into another set of Atlantis files. I downloaded as many as I could before I got shut out.

I finally started collecting what I had to make some sense out of this.

In a little Ward, Fitz and Simmons came up to the control center. Coulson started, "Okay, here's how we are going to do this. We'll start with the Deep project." He pointed to Ward, "Go ahead."

"The Deep project has been in operation since Quinn Research came to the outpost. They have had as many as twenty people working on it, although the last crew only had seven. One of those stayed during the crew change out. Of interest, he was a former Ranger and a security specialist for Quinn." Ward ended by looking at Fitz.

"Well then, they completed a map of the bottom that covers at least 200 square miles." Fitz pointed to the display, "The symbols indicate possible mineral sites, and in particular the inverted G indicates gravitorium. Then, there is one other problem, or curious feature. There is a twenty square mile segment that is blank on the maps. And the Deep project must have past over that area."

Simmons continued, "There was one other feature of the Deep project. It was able to look for microorganisms. Several of the underground or under ice lakes were teaming with multi-celled organisms. A few of them were several meters long. That's where the gravitorium project comes in. There were notes that they had intended to capture several cubic feet of these lakes in a gravity inversion and move it to the surface so as to not disturb the environment."

Ward nodded, "That was one of the reasons given in the requests sent to Quinn for the shipment of the gravitorium assembly. They were intending build another system like Doctor Hall was developing."

"By the records that Skye found, they had enough gravitorium nuggets to make a fully functioning system," Fitz added.

Skye interrupted, "But why would they go to the trouble of building another gravitorium system? Were those creatures so important to risk exposure the Quinn's gravitorium project?"

Coulson smiled, "No. That wasn't the goal. They were after Atlantis."

Fitz and Simmons said at the same time, "We received only one file on Atlantis."

Fitz continued, "It was a report from Doc Blare. It referred to an old map. While it also had references to star charts, we were not able to get much else out of it." He showed the report on the screen. "This particular star chart is a replica of a very old chart. My analysis indicates the star system alignment was several thousands of years ago."

Coulson looked at the star chart for a while and then pulled up his own, "This is from Howard Stark. Reportedly he got it from a HYDRA scientist at the end of World War II."

I tried to remember what that was. Then I remembered; a year ago I found some declassified reports from World War II that referred to HYDRA. They were linked to the predecessor of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Fitz was the first to notice, "The stars on the edges align." He moved the displays around. "See, its like these are the Stars of the Northern sky, with the North Star. And Doc Blare had the half from the Southern sky. See, there is the Southern Cross."

I saw Coulson shake his head. This was not good. I could not help it, "What does this mean?"

Coulson looked at me, "You know very well what this means."

I swallowed I remembered what he had said, "Another Tesseract?"

"We should assume it is," Coulson nodded.

May came over the intercom again, "We are just ten minutes out. Buckle up, this will be a hard one."

We sat back and reached around for the shoulder straps. It was really bumpy. We hit one air pocket that almost left us on the ceiling. With everyone in securely, Coulson looked over at me, "Did you find anything else?"

"Yes, I know the Tesseract is important. But Quinn was far more interested in Atlantis. I was finally able to get to his files. There were several folders on Atlantis, starting with fragments of writings attributed to Plato. There were references to HYDRA. He is looking for Atlantis. If there is a Tesseract, it will be in the Atlantis lab."

Coulson nodded, "Okay, once we land, suit up and be ready."

(Coulson POV)

Before we left, we tried again to raise someone, but there was no answer. May checked everyone from artic boots to special goggles.

As she checked them, I realized how busy Fitz had been. He designed a box for something like a Tesseract. Then he had equipped the goggles with infrared sensors and a SAR package. And he also got some help from Ward as they outfitted the SUV to handle the artic environment.

As Fitz explained it, the infrared would help locating the buildings when we landed. He said they would work through the snow and at least outline the buildings for us. The SAR package, a limited synthetic aperture radar, would allow for detection of movement and possibly detect hidden rooms or tunnels in the outpost.

Simmons was busy too. She had outfitted the snowsuits with heaters and cooling systems. They worked better than my motorcycle outfit. I already felt perfectly comfortable in a suit that certainty would have had me glistening with perspiration.

May came over to me last. After she confirmed the outfit, she gave me a thumbs up. She went over and lowered the ramp.

Ward got in the driver's seat of the SUV and we all piled in. May parked the Bus only a hundred yards from the reception tunnel so there was a small drive to the tunnel. We had to park outside the tunnel and then walk in. Ward was going to bring the box.

"Fitz and Simmons lead the way for Ward while he carries the box. Make sure you make it in. May and I will go with Skye. Just get in the tunnel and we'll see what we have."

We got each other's hand and walked to the tunnel. With the winds now gusting to over 50 miles per hour we leaned into the wind to get there. The door to the tunnel had been blown open long ago. Snow was built up all around it.

I got to the tunnel door and pulled May and Skye inside. In just a few seconds, Fitz, Simmons and Ward came into the tunnel. The tunnel did offer some shelter. It was about fifty yards long and we had to dig out a few places before we could get through. We finally made it to another set of doors and entered a small holding area.

I saw a keypad for a cipher lock. Smiling I said, "I got this." I put the detonator next to the doorknob and stepped back and turned my back to it while motioning for everyone else to do the same. "In a second," and it popped. The door swung open and warm air came out into the holding room.

The hallway behind that door led to the recreation room. It must have substituted for their command center as the radios in the room were crackling for answers. Several agencies were calling in to get a response from the outpost. When May started toward one of them, I held up my hand. "Let's wait till we know what happened."

I looked around with the others. There were no signs of any struggles or anything out of the ordinary. I motioned Ward to the dining room and May went back to the sleeping quarters. In a minute they reported back. No one was found. The last meal must have been complete before everyone disappeared, as the kitchen was clean.

I knew it was time to explore the outpost. I looked at everyone, "Keep your suits on until we verify that all sections of the outpost are still intact.

Skye spoke up, "I show the Quinn response team now about twenty minutes away from landing. The first U.S. response team is an hour out."

"May lead the way over to the Atlantis lab. Ward bring the box. Let's see if Skye had the right idea."

(Skye POV)

I followed May to the lab. I was so excited. After all the work, I so hoped I was right.

As we entered the lab, a bright light…

_A/N So on the mission. Hope you enjoy. Definitely AU. Reviews on this one gratefully accepted. _


	8. Chapter 8

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**The Tesseract**

(Skye POV)

As we entered the lab, a bright light almost blinded us. It was a very bright blue light. I tried to look away. The light was almost hurting. I heard Coulson say, "Get you goggles back on."

I quickly got my goggles on. That fixed it. I saw the cube. It was on the floor still glowing. Fitz and Simmons came up with Ward. He still had the box for the cube. He walked over and put the box down by the cube.

I looked over to Coulson. He was watching and said, "Okay, done this before people. Listen carefully. Touching the cube directly can be extremely dangerous; basically you vanish into a stream of light. Ward, go ahead. I want it up in the Bus before the others get here."

I watched as Ward took the gloves and tongs out of the box. Fitz showed us before we left the Bus. Ward picked up the Tesseract and put it into the box.

Coulson turned to May, "Go with him and get it secured."

When they were walking out of the lab, I could not help myself, "Are they going to have to stay with it? That interrogation room isn't much." At least that's where I thought they would put it.

Fitz answered, "There's a safe big enough for the box. And there's no way…well maybe except for you, that anyone could get in the plane and open the safe."

"What like a remote key? Bio signature? Hey, that would be cool."

Coulson just smiled.

I started to look around the lab. Fitz and Simmons joined in.

(Coulson POV)

When the others stated to look around the lab, my phone started to buzz. I was a bit caught off guard, thinking it might be May or Ward I answered, "Coulson."

"Streiten here."

"Hey Doc," I saw Skye look over. "Kind of busy, what do you have?"

"Ran the DNA. It's unique. There were no matches."

I did not think I would get any more out of him on that. He would probably say something about doctor-patient relation. "Okay, any more on the admission paper," by then Fitz and Simmons were listening in.

"Still, checking. Have you looked at the Hub records?"

Of course he would remind me of the easy way, "Yeah, I'll check next time we get back."

"So, stay out of the cold down there."

"Thanks. Catch you later." I hung up and looked at Skye.

(Skye POV)

I was so excited. I watched every move, every blink of the eye. Coulson put the phone back in his pocket. I waited. He looked at me and I waited.

"Doc said he ran the DNA. It was unique and no matches."

Simmons interrupted, "What did he mean unique?"

I nodded, hoping for more.

Coulson thought, "Just what he said, it's unique."

Simmons came over to me, "I'll check to see what he meant when we get back to the lab."

"Thank you." She was so nice.

Then Coulson said, "I should check our record's library. And no we can't do that remotely. We have to be there. The library is not connected to any outside line."

I nodded. It made sense to isolate something important. I slumped, nothing again. I rested my hand on the counter next to me. It seemed to warm up and I jumped back at the reaction, "What the?"

I looked at the counter. It was more than a counter. The surface seemed to start to change from a dark brown to a blue. The back of it almost looked like a vanity with a shinny surface and a lot of crazy symbols and writing on it. Then the bigger surprise came as that surface turned into a beacon. The light beamed to the exact position where the Tesseract had been.

Fitz and Simmons were at it in a second. Each had some kind of meter in their hands and pointed it at the beam.

Coulson asked, "Got anything?"

"Well, it seems to be a photogenic source that…" and they were talking at the same time. "It could be a electrical discharge…"

I could not make sense out of anything they were saying.

Coulson broke in, "Stop. Let's try this again." He looked at them like if they did not get this right, well…

Fitz shook his head, "I got no idea."

Simmons agreed, "Nothing here."

"Start a full analysis and let me know. First question is whether this is important enough to move on the Bus. Get started." Coulson turned to me. "Use that laptop you brought with you to decipher those symbols. See if it tells us anything."

I swung the backpack off and got out the laptop. When Coulson said to take it, I felt a little better. He was giving me a chance. I booted up and connected to the Internet. I guess it made sense, everything was still working at the outpost and there was still a Wi-Fi connection.

I heard Coulson talking with May and Ward. He was leaving to go check the other labs. I gave him the look at the comment from May.

I was definitely surprised by an alert that came across the screen. It was something about Darcy Lewis trying to get a hold of S.H.I.E.L.D. I decided to show Coulson as soon as he got back. I was not going to withhold something from him.

Next I started to select and download my decryption software form my server. I had run up against this kind of problem before. There had been an encryption program in various languages that I had to crack. There had even been one in Klingon.

(Coulson POV)

Everyone was at work in here. I needed to look at the other labs. I called over our net, "Ward and May, if you have that box secure, I need you back here."

May came back, "Quinn's team is circling. The wind has picked up."

The last concerned me. I needed them to get back and at least one of them cover the others while we explored the rest of the outpost. "Can you make it in?"

May answered, "We're good. I set a rope between the tunnel and the Bus. We'll be able to follow that in."

"Okay, I'll be in the gravitorium lab. If we can get any of the gravitorium out of the lab, I want that in the Bus too. Skye, Fitz and Simmons are in the Atlantis lab. Be careful in there. Skye has already activated some kind of mirror just by touching it."

May replied, "I'll meet you in gravitorium. Ward will cover the kids."

I saw Skye and the others look at me after she said that. I shrugged and walked out of the lab.

I turned and walked over to the gravitorium lab. It was easy to find it after Skye had explained the layout of the outpost. I was happy with her. She was coming through.

As I came into the lab I saw the container for the gravitorium. It was a little different than the set up Quinn had on the island. I assumed that this was because the nuggets I was looking at had not been refined. Time was of the essence at this point; I had to get these out of here. I saw a clear plastic bucket that looked just fine for the nuggets. I was going to dump them in there and then get May to take them out to the Bus.

(Skye POV)

It was strange. Some of the symbols looked like they were the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Then there were lines that were most definitely ancient Greek, probably pre-Classic period. Yeah, I suppose people would wonder how I know that. St. Agnes was after all a Catholic orphanage. While I was certainly not a sweet saintly little girl, actually quiet the opposite, a real renegade, Sister Mary Alberta was extremely smart and a very good teacher. I got almost everything from her. It started with Latin and then Classic Greek. After Hebrew I began to branch out into computer languages.

I took my phone and went to take some pictures of the vanity. Fitz and Simmons were at work too. Fitz had a probe. He was putting it close to the mirror. Simmons was over near the floor where the beacon was shinning. She had some kind of measurement device that was checking the surface of the floor.

I was almost done and Ward and May showed up at the door to the lab. I saw them and said, "Hey." I wasn't sure what happened but the beacon got even brighter. We were all surprised. May and Ward came into the lab.

Ward looked at me, "You trigger something?"

"I don't think so. I saw you guys and turned around."

Fitz chimed in, "I certainly did not touch it."

Simmons looked up, "I'm not even close."

Coulson came to the door. It happened so fast. The mirror seemed to pick him up as he came to the door. The beacon shifted and turned on him. He was frozen. I could see in his eyes he was trying to move but it wasn't working.

Ward's reaction got me. He almost shouted, "What did you do?"

I screamed back, "Nothing."

Coulson started to float in the air. The light looked like it was distorting his body.

I didn't think there was a choice. I was in position to do it and stepped into the beacon.

(Coulson POV)

It felt like I was heating up. I heard Ward shouting and then watched as Skye stepped into the beam. I fell. When I looked up, she was gone.

_A/N So a little cliffy. Hope you enjoy. Definitely AU. Reviews on this one gratefully accepted. _


	9. Chapter 9

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**The Disappearing Agent**

(Coulson POV)

When I looked up, she was gone, so was the light. The beacon shut down and vanity was dark brown again. Everyone was staring in amazement. We had work to do, get Skye back and find out what happened to the others. I knew they were all shaken but they needed to focus.

"May, get this bucket up to the bus. It's got gravitorium nuggets. Ward, stay here and let me know if Quinn's people start to interfere. I'm going to the energy lab to check on it. Fitz and Simmons, figure this out. I want Skye back. I want answers when I get back."

I turned and walked out. I knew I had the best team. They would figure it out. Even Skye could be working to figure this out and get back here.

The energy lab had no people in it. The lab appeared to be in working order. The lights and computer displays were on. It was obvious they were working on the next survey plot. They did mark out an area that was mark for likely gravitorium. They also marked two possible active volcanoes showing the tremors and past readings. The thing that was striking was what appeared to be a road heading into the 20 square mile blank area. It would be worth getting Fitz and Simmons to check this once we got Skye back.

There was one station, which they were using to monitor energy readings. The monitor was still on. Checking the readings I saw the last spike. The time marking corresponded to Skye vanishing. Before that there were spikes likely related to my floating in the air and then Skye turning the vanity on. I looked at the readings to almost a day ago. There was a continuous spike for over an hour and a higher spike before that. I looked over the days before that and there was nothing unusual. I grab the readings and headed over to the Atlantis lab.

I reached up and came on the net, "May, how close are they?"

"Still circling, winds are up to 100 mph. Unless you have to have me, I'll stay in the Bus till this passes."

"Copy. That's fine."

I walked in the door of the Atlantis lab. Fitz and Simmons were bent over something. Ward was looking at Skye's computer.

"What have you got?"

They all looked over. None of them looked happy. "Anything?"

Fitz started, "Well, it was some kind of a spatial rift. It pulled Skye out of the room."

Well, I've dealt with the Einstein-Bridge before, but with those you knew where you were going and where they were coming from. "Do we know where she went?"

"No."

I was relived that if she were out in the snow just a mile from here she would be okay. We were all still wearing our suits. But I knew that a mile away was very unlikely. I nodded for them to continue.

Fitz continued, "Before that when you were in the light, we believe the gravitorium's energy drew the beacon to you. If the vanity or mirror device is triggered or enhanced by energy it would then match the other positioning of the light. It was pointed to where the Tesseract was. So, when it activated it was on the Tesseract."

I held up the readings from the other room. "That would explain this. It is the records from an energy monitor in the other lab." I rolled it out and showed them. They agreed with my assessment of the timing.

Fitz thought about that for a while. "That means that the constant energy, shown here, got everyone."

"Based on the bio-signatures I got, it is possible the beacon with the Tesseract was strong enough to contact every life form in the outpost and take it over the beacon." Simmons added, "I suspect we won't find any other animals in the outpost."

Ward finally spoke up, "Skye was working the translation. She took pictures and they are on her laptop." He looked around at Fitz and Simmons, "Hey what? I know how to defuse a nuclear bomb, you don't think I could figure out what is on her laptop?" He got shrugs and continued, "I also found some translation software. I don't think she started it."

Simmons added, "Probably not, she was over by the vanity taking pictures when you came." She stopped and was visibly shaken, "We have to get her back."

Fitz was a little more confident, "We'll figure it out. We always do." He put his arm around Simmons. It seemed to calm her.

I walked over to where Ward had the laptop. "I've done a little with different languages. I'll work on this. Ward, I didn't not the Deep lab or the weather lab area. Please go check those for anyone. I know it is a long shot but we need to know."

Ward nodded and headed out. I started with the laptop. I noticed that Skye had downloaded Pre-Classic Greek and Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Then I noticed something odd, an alert. Darcy Lewis was trying to get a hold of S.H.I.E.L.D. I wondered for a second about where it came from but knew that this was not normal. After our previous encounter I would have never bet she would call S.H.I.E.L.D. Something must have been seriously wrong. With Darcy, Jane and Eric problems would likely mean a problem out of this world.

(Skye POV)

Where was I? It was surreal. After the initial shock I figured I better find out where I was and try to get back. I started to look around. The floor was a smooth marble. The marble slabs were monstrous. They must have been eight or nine feet across. The walls were white marble that had to be twenty or so feet high. I went to one. It was plain. There were no markings. I looked up to the ceiling. There was a round window in the middle. I was happy that the sun was lighting the room. I just wished there was something to read, some symbols, just something.

Then I notice the door. It was in the corner of the room. The walls came out almost like pillars in front of the door. I walked around the close one and saw the door. It was very large. It looked like gold well the color was gold. After touching it I knew it was definitely metal. But that much gold on a door, that would be worth a million. Wouldn't it? At least there was something on the door, two pillars.

That made me think. There was something in the papers that Quinn had about the two pillars leading to Atlantis. I thought back to the papers and could not remember seeing any kind of description of the pillars. Then I started to remember the vanity. There were pillars on both sides of the mirror. They did match.

As stunning as that was, I thought I better try to decipher the vanity from what I could remember. The one Greek phrase said something about the nine planets in a row. Would that be our solar system? I did not think so. I was thinking that all of our planets were found way after Plato was around. So what else was there?

Well, there was outside. I thought a little about going out of the room. I remembered all those little sayings when I was a kid, _'If you get separated, stay were you are.' _But I wasn't a little girl any more.

_A/N Okay twisting stories and space. What could be more fun? Hope you enjoy. Definitely AU. Reviews on this one gratefully accepted. And thank you to all those that have added reviews. _


	10. Chapter 10

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**The Doors**

(Skye POV)

Having made the decision I pushed against the door. Nothing happened. I stepped back and stared at it. With all that I wanted just staring at it was not going to do it. I went back to the door and grabbed each of the pillars to put more weight against the door. The door swung open so fast that I almost fell out of the room.

My hand came up quickly to shade my eyes from the sun. It was way brighter outside than in that room. I adjusted to light and what I saw was fantastic. There were buildings in front of me that reached to the sky. Most were marble like the walls of the rooms. A couple had silver walls and one very tall massive building had golden walls. Each of the buildings was unique with towers, turrets and conical spires. Most of them had windows on each floor. Those windows were just open-air windows. I did not see any glass windows, which was a little surprising. But then this whole place was surprising.

Saying surprising there were at least two waterways that paralleled the roads. And then I realized there was no one here. The streets and waterways were empty. There was no movement in the windows. Some birds, probably seagulls, circled overhead, but there was nothing else.

The sun seemed to be directly overhead so I could not get my bearings. Off in the distance there appeared to be two mountain ranges. I decided that the tall one would be north until I could tell for sure.

I reached into my survival kit. Yes, Ward made us pack one in our backpacks. Ward kept stressing that we had to keep our backpacks with us at all times. So when I got out the laptop I automatically put the backpack back on. We also carried extra goodies in each of our pockets. I figured I had enough food and water for a couple days. But staying here really wasn't an option. I just had to find the way back.

Opening the kit I found it, a goodie from Fitz. It was a string of location beacons. They, like the food, would last for two days. I went back and put one in the room where I started this little adventure. I figured that I would use that as my reference point and map everything from there. And then drop the beacons like breadcrumbs.

That big golden building was directly north of the room. I figured that would be a good place to start. It was a little walk over to the building, as I had to go down the road in front of the room to get to the bridge that went over the waterway. When I got on the bridge I looked back to the building that contained the room. It was marble like the interior and had a circular dome on top. I thought it might have been a monument. The curious thing about it was the only marking on it were those columns engraved on the door.

At the front of the golden building there were massive double doors. Each one had a column like those at the room. I pulled on one of the columns and the doors swung open. The inside was simply marvelous. The light from the sun bounced from wall to wall. The ceiling was painted bright blue. Some panels of the ceiling had scenes of oceans with large waves or the sun setting behind those mountains. Okay, so the mountains are on the west, good to know.

Majestic reliefs covered the walls. There were scenes of mighty battles of men with swords, shields, spears and bows. Other scenes contained old sailing ships. The final scene flanked a spiral staircase. It showed men and women sitting, talking with each other and reading scrolls.

I looked up the staircase and it went up forever. The relief of people continued around the staircase as far as I could see. Then I realized that I would just have to go up those stairs and I began to appreciate Ward and May and the hours on the Stairmaster.

(Coulson POV)

I must say I was intrigued by the alert from Darcy. Checking it further, it was sent about the time we were notified to come down here. The second alert was a little more descriptive; Jane had disappeared. Well, too many people were disappearing. And a missing Jane Foster would bring a whole new dimension to the problem. I sent a message to Fury to have him verify the circumstances.

May called from the Bus, "The sensors just went nuts and now infrared shows silhouettes about three hundred yards from here. Almost a direct line from the tunnel entrance to the Bus and beyond."

"Ward, you're with me. Meet up at the tunnel entrance. May, let's assume it's the people from the outpost. Load up one of those sleds and meet us over there."

"Copy. We still have gusts up to 100 mph."

"Okay, bring the tent."

Fritz started, "What the …"

Simmons quickly responded, "That's Skye's signal."

That was a surprise, "Where?"

"Might be the same place as the others." He looked over a the evacuation map on the wall, "It's on the same vector." I saw him shake his head. "The GPS locator is not working. We are only getting a signal, no coordinates."

I held up my receiver, "Okay, we should be able to triangulate when I get to the tunnel entrance."

Simmons added, "We'll get medical set up for when you get back."

We walked out of the Atlantis lab together. I joined up with Ward and went out to the tunnel. When I got there, I set the receiver. "Okay Fitz, you get this?"

"Right, the signal is three hundred yards from the Bus. Just about on top of the others."

"Got it. Vector us in."

Ward drove and watched the HUD. The signal from Skye was strong. May had her beacon on too, so we had a clear picture.

May called out, "I found them, no one in artic gear. I'm deploying the tent."

We got there just as May was dragging someone into the tent. "I got three of them. None of them seemed to be moving."

The tent is actually kind of amazing. You set the package on the ground, in this case the ice, and hit the deploy button. The bottom frame shoots out until reaches the end and spikes shoot into the ground. Again in this case ice, and they go down pretty far. The walls inflate and the tent becomes fairly rigid.

Ward and I rushed out of the van. We each got one and started dragging them into the tent. May stayed in the tent. She started working to try to bring them around. It wasn't looking good.

When we got everyone in the tent, we found that two of them had no pulse. The others were in serious hypothermia with varying degrees of frostbite. May was taking direction from Simmons to treat the more serious problems.

Ward and I continued our attempts to find Skye. Fitz kept saying the signal was still out here. But there was nothing. At one point the wind seemed to die down and there was a little swirl of snow on the ground where the signal was supposed to be coming from. But there was nothing.

(Skye POV)

Okay maybe that wasn't enough on the Stairmaster. I was sure I was up over nine or ten floors but this was getting old. After each set of three flights of stairs there was an opening like a large room. But there were no doors. Each of the rooms had bench seats along the walls. They reminded me of the seats used in the reliefs. And those continued. The stairway had reliefs of the people talking with each other and reading scrolls all the way from the bottom. Looking up, it appeared to go on.

After getting a drink of water I decided to go up another two sets. It was a climb. Definitely getting harder. After getting up there, on what ever floor this would be, I saw one last flight of stairs.

I went for it, hoping to find a real room of some kind. There was another opening with bench seats and then at the opposite end of the room from the stairs there were the two pillars. For the first time, I decided to put Fitz's goggles back on. It was open behind those pillars, another room. I went up to the pillars and with a hand on both. I pushed. It opened.

Okay so being amazed or surprised had already been done but truly this was beyond that. They looked the same.

_A/N Okay twisting stories and space. Hope you enjoy. Definitely AU. Reviews on this one gratefully accepted. And thank you to all those that have added reviews. _


	11. Chapter 11

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**The Touch**

(Skye POV)

They were awesome, two vanities. They looked almost identical to the one back at the outpost. One was on the left side of the room. The other was directly across from the door. Looking at it I had the feeling that I should duck and cover. But it was brown like the other had been before it came active.

By the vanity was another door. It was open. I went over there first. Pushing the door open a bit further, there was a large balcony. The view was spectacular. The city extended to the mountains on the west and to the ocean on the east. The buildings were no different than those I saw from the streets. There were even a couple golden buildings like this one. One of those buildings was down at the waterfront. The other was closer to the mountains. Well, it would definitely be worthwhile to come back to the balcony and see it at sunrise and sunset.

I went back to look at the vanities. The lettering and symbols were the same, a mix of Pre-Classic Greek and Egyptian Hieroglyphs. I saw the reference to the nine planets and something about 'it happen again.' Then in the Hieroglyphs I was able to get 'perfect dual doors' and 'the two lands.' I knew it was a leap but I've seen weirder things since I been in S.H.I.E.L.D. Maybe this was the door back to the team. I just had to figure out how to unlock it.

(Coulson POV)

Fitz called, "Hey, I just set an alarm so we would know when the winds go below fifty mph. And we just got a notice that Quinn's team went 'Bingo'?"

I knew that one, "They had to go get some fuel." I watched May as she nodded. "Probably headed over to Punta Arenas." She nodded again.

"May's avionics has the U.S. contingent coming into the area," Fitz added.

"Good, it will be easier to deal with them." May provided.

I looked over at May and nodded. We were working to get these people moved. The tent was good for the initial treatment. May was able to bring enough in the sled to get them warm, but the real treatment options were back at the outpost and Simmons had those ready. None of the people we rescued were conscious. Getting them talking would help. It might bring us closer to finding out what happened and where Skye went.

It was another hour before the winds finally calmed down and Fitz's alarm went off. We had everything set. "Okay. Let's head out."

I went in the van with two of the people we thought were in worse shape. May drove the sleigh. We had one person in the sleigh basket and then the others daisy chained behind. Each was on a thin shell that was tied to the person before and after. Ward was last. He was on the pair of skis that May had packed and held on to the last line of rope. We went slowly.

By the time we got to the tunnel, the U.S. contingent had landed. Simmons and Fitz were there and we started to unload the outpost members. We busily continued to get them into the beds that Simmons had prepared in the recreation room. The radios were crackling.

I decided that we needed to welcome the new group, "This is Agent Phil Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D. Welcome to Outpost Perry. We have one request. If you have medical supplies, bring them now. We have just recovered the members of Outpost Perry. They are non-responsive and we do not know what happened. They were out in the elements about four hundred yards from the tunnel entrance."

"I'm Captain Moore, U.S. Coast Guard mission Perry. We have a full medical suite, two doctors and five medical technicians."

"We initially recovered these people in a tent. Based on the displays here you should see that to the right, the compound to the left and you are headed toward our transport. Please be advised that it is a restricted and secure flight."

"Copy, we'll comply."

"I'll meet you at the entrance to the tunnel."

Looking at the Fitz and Simmons, "Get back to the Atlantis lab when you have relief. May and Ward, we'll declare the Quinn labs a restricted area. Let's do this with the necessary paperwork. Give a copy to the Captain." I saw May smile, "Yes, then he'll be obligated to enforce it on the Quinn contingent when they get here. Oh, and when you can, activate the lab security system again."

(Skye POV)

I had been working on the vanity for some time. It finally felt like break time, as my stomach rumbled I changed that to lunchtime. Looking around the room there were bench seats on the other wall. I thought about going there but decide since it was so sunny outside, to check that out again.

Well, I was right. The sun had moved and was going toward the mountains. I was happy when I saw that the outside walls of balcony had benches. I thought about taking my artic suit off but knew that Ward had repeated and May directed, 'You will not take this off until the mission is over.' It was still comfortable. So I left it on. Now lunch.

Ward had rolled his eyes and stuffed his pockets with energy bars. But we had a blast. We played around in the mess acting like we were executive chefs. Even Coulson dropped in and presented the perfect stakeout box. Fitz and Simmons introduced me to a buffalo mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto with a hint of pesto aioli sandwich. It smelled great. I had packed one and went for it. Then I got a vacuum-packed veggie side. I was all set with a bottle of water.

As I ate I watched the skies. The clouds rolled by from the mountains and out to the sea. There were a few birds. The bigger ones still looked like seagulls. It still seemed a bit odd. There was no other life here. I finished the lunch and went back in the room.

I had the trash from lunch in my hand and, not thinking, started to look around for a trashcan. I saw something that looked round under the vanity. It looked like a trash can, but turned out to be a stool. I stuck the trash in one of my pockets and looked closer at the stool. I pulled it out from the vanity to look at it better. It had no markings but out in the light, it seemed to glow a little bit. I rolled it around to see all the angles and the bottom. Then I realized it looked that light blue color of the vanity back at the outpost. I put the stool down very, very carefully. And looked at the mirror, it was starting to become blue. The brown was almost gone.

Was this the chance to get back? The vanity looked like it was powering up. I sat down on the stool and looked at the vanity again. Maybe with the lights I could get a better idea of what was important and get a better reading of the vanity.

(Coulson POV)

Captain Moore signed an gave me a copy of the paperwork, "I suppose that makes it official. Now what do you want us to do?"

"For now, we would like your people to continue their efforts with the Perry crew and to bring the station up to a functional level. We will need to interview the Perry crew as they become available. Agents May and Ward will handle the interviews. As indicated in the paperwork, we will be conducting an investigation under Article 7, Advanced Weapons Technology Transfers. All information released from the point you landed is classified and will fall under our normal protocols. When and if anyone else lands before we have concluded the investigation, they will be asked to sign the same paperwork. If they do not, they can wait until we are done or leave. Any questions?"

"None here, we'll let me know when the Perry crew comes around." The Captain and his men nodded and left the area to attend to their duties.

I went back to the Atlantis lab. Fitz and Simmons were studying the vanity. As I walked to them and they put down their notes. Simmons began, "We believe the vanity is as important as the Tesseract. We should move it out to the Bus."

"Remember Dr. Hall was preparing to send the island to the bottom of the ocean?" Fitz asked.

"Certainly," I was after all fighting him for control of the gravitorium. Right now I was in a fight with the controls of my laptop, logging on to the S.H.I.E.L.D. server and event cast.

"Quinn's group must have used it to pull up this vanity from the bottom of the ice." Simmons pointed at the vanity. "The corrosive marks and the stress points at other places are caused by ice and the pressure of being so far below the ice. The other point is that it must have been in a building that was frozen under the ice thus stopping the pressure from completely smashing the vanity."

"And we believe your translation of the Hieroglyphs on the side are correct. The mirror works with the stool. And the stool is the main power source." Fitz showed me the stool symbol. "The mirror may have been activated here with the Tesseract. That does explain why everyone at the outpost disappeared. When the vanity was activated again, it began to search for the stool or any power source. With you coming to the door, it latched on to the gravitorium.

"We were not able to detect the Skye's disappearing transmission but it would seem from the translations, she would have been sent back to base or the origin of the vanity. Now we realize that going back to where the vanity was, miles under the ice, would mean her death, but she was able to deploy one of the beacons." Fitz concluded was a smile.

"So, do you know where she is?"

They looked at each other, "No," in unison.

"What about the others?"

Simmons answered, "Well, that's an interesting part. Some of them had ice crystals on their clothes that were completely different than those you would find here at Outpost Perry. The most significant part of those crystals was a higher concentration of nitrogen."

"Yes, but as I explained, the increased energy can trap nitrogen."

I watched in amazement as the agreement continued.

"Yes, but we checked May's clothes and she did not have those crystals. She was putting up the tent while your energy readings still indicated the presence of an energy wave. We were still getting a signal from Skye's beacon. So, the energy itself is not the likely source of the difference. Therefore they were somewhere else."

As I looked up from S.H.I.E.L.D. event cast with an almost certainty of what happened, May and Ward came in the door. May nodded, "We got the security system up. The outpost crew has not woken up."

Ward was holding a round drum, "We found this over in the security officer's office. I think he…"

(Skye POV)

I was tired. It seemed like I was getting nowhere. Then I looked up at the mirror. They were all standing there. That split second everything went white.

_A/N Okay twisting stories and space. Can we get everyone back in the same place? Hope you enjoy. Definitely AU. Reviews on this one gratefully accepted. And my sincere apologies for taking so long to get this out. _


	12. Chapter 12

What do we do now…go on waiting

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**The Light**

(Skye POV)

Everything went white. A second later they were showing up in the mirror, but they were all in back of me. I turned around to hear panoply of wonderment, delight and well, other comments too.

My favorites were my AC saying, "I wondered how that worked." The normal Fitz saying, "What the…" May, well looking May and being stoic. Simmons was almost screaming with delight. And maybe the best, a Ward comment, "Well Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore." There may have been more, but I dashed out of the seat and gave Coulson a hug like I hadn't seen him in years. I went to each of them giving them a big hug. I was beyond happy to be together again.

Fitz went on, "So, where are we?"

Coulson knew, "One of the nine planets of the Yggdrasill." He looked around at the others, "What you don't think I know where Thor comes from." Then he looked at me, "But this isn't Asgard, is it?"

"I don't think so. There are no other people around. Or at least that I have seen." I pointed to the door of the balcony, "Here let me show you."

We went out to the balcony. The view was still spectacular. "It is a magnificent city. I think it is the main part of Atlantis. As you can see the buildings are fabulous. They are mainly made from marble, silver and gold." Thinking about it I agreed with Coulson, "It has to be one of the nine planets. But I don't know which one. There have been no people around."

Well, I could tell that Coulson already knew something his eyes almost sparkled. He began, "S.H.I.E.L.D. is reporting that Dr. Eric Selvig was right, the nine planets of Yggdrasill are aligning. It is creating wormholes between the planets. People and things are being moved between the planets with ease. We have reports that Dr. Jane Foster has disappeared. The alignment centers over Greenwich and the tail end of it comes through the outpost." He held up his hand and pointed his finger at the top and then pointed it down at the bottom at not quiet a line through the middle of Earth. "As Fitz and Simmons suggest the mirrors are catalysts for the early wormholes. But it will become easier as the alignment continues."

Fitz had been following and with his pad already out was making the necessary calculations. "That explains a lot. The alignment theory allows for a decreased need for energy to establish a wormhole. To the point some wormholes could be established on their own." He finalized another calculation and looked up, "The previous alignment was a little different. The planets were not only aligned, but also likely closer than they had been in the past hundred alignments. It could have pushed Atlantis to the South Pole and then hurdled this part of it, well, to whatever planet we are on."

"Then the Outpost people were on a different planet, one that has freezing conditions on its own," Simmons stated.

"Well, at this point the likely landing was on the frost world of Jotunheim." May shrugged, "What? The Records section does have some interesting reading."

Coulson nodded in agreement, "When I debriefed Eric and he said that Thor had some battle on Jotunheim before coming to Earth. Something about Frost Giants." He looked out over the balcony, "To the point of this, the alignment will not last that long. We need to get back. The bridge that transported us could well be stronger from the alignment."

Fitz and Simmons turned to me. Almost in unison, "What exactly were you doing before the transport?"

I pointed back to the room with the vanities, "I was sitting on a stool in front of the vanity, trying to figure out how it worked."

Fitz nodded, "Okay, well let's get back to it."

Simmons added, "Show us, but don't touch anything until we figure it out."

I agreed, "Sure, no problem."

The others followed us into the room with the vanities. Everyone crowded around the vanity I had used before.

"Do you want me to sit on the stool? It does seem to activate the vanity."

Fitz and Simmons looked at each other and agreed, "Sure."

As I sat down the vanity did seem to come to life. I pointed to some of the things I knew. "There is the reference to the nine planets. This one looks like it is likely Midgard or Earth. This was a reference to something about 'it happen again.' I think that must be the alignment. Then here in the Hieroglyphs it refers to 'perfect dual doors' and 'the two lands.' Then the big thing that I noticed last time was the Hieroglyph of the hand. I think that is the activation switch."

Fitz observed, "When you sat down, Earth lit up along with the dual doors. And now the hand is illuminated, like it is ready."

"Well, if we are going to do this, I think it would be best if we all joined hands." Simmons looked around at everyone's disbelief. "No, this isn't a children's game. If we keep our connection with each other, we'll have a better chance of staying together. This is more of a transporter, than it is an anomalous Einstein Bridge caused by the alignment."

Coulson and May nodded and started to hold hands. Ward held my free hand and May put her free hand on my shoulder.

(Coulson POV)

I had my answers and I must admit I was happy with the team. We had found Skye and she was on top of things and getting us back. While we still were not sure which planet we were on, there won't be too much trouble finding out when we got back. Some of the S.H.I.E.L.D. research teams would be helping us out.

"Do it."

With that Skye touched the Hieroglyph of the hand. Everything turned white and we were back in the Atlantis Lab. "Very good, nicely done." We were still holding hands and Skye was on the stool that Ward had brought into the lab.

I looked around the lab, "Okay, let's wrap this up. May, please take the stool out to the Bus. Put it over by the bar. Ward, you and I will take the vanity to the mat. The rest of you make one more sweep of this lab and see if there is anything else."

That's when it happened; the emergency lights and sirens of the station began to blare. There were three figures in the hallway firing what looked like scepters at the Captain's men. I pulled my SIG and motioned for May and Ward to do the same.

I noticed Skye was looking at my laptop. She called out, "Quick, pull the vanity around so it points down the hall way. And give me that stool."

She sat down at the vanity and activated a series of lights on the vanity. A flash went out over her shoulder and down the hall. The three figures disappeared.

"What did you just do?"

Skye turned and shrugged, "They did not belong here. Wrong world, I'm sure. I sent them over to Jotunheim. Seemed like the best shot since the outpost was there. They can chill out there."

Simmons eyes got big. She pointed down the hall the other way. "We have more coming." The shots began to ring out.

_A/N Okay twisting stories and space continues. Hope you enjoy. Definitely AU. Reviews on this one gratefully accepted. My sincere apologies for taking so long to get the update out. _


	13. Chapter 13

What do we do now…go on waiting

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**The Flashes**

(Skye POV)

I saw them and finally recognized what they were, the worst of the Nine Worlds, Dark Elves. We had to get rid of them. Coulson, May and Ward were firing on the Elves. Most of the shots seemed to bounce off. Fortunately Coulson, May and Ward were well enough shielded by the walls of the lab door that the return fire had not hit them.

"Quick turn this thing and stay behind it!"

Fitz and Simmons worked faster and turned it. They stayed behind it and that was a good thing.

I was sitting at the stool and turning to the vanity. Getting ready to hit the symbols to activate the vanity, I saw in the mirror that one of the Elves had level his weapon at me. I ducked to the left as he fired. I was blinded for a second as the light from his scepter hit the mirror and bounced back.

When I could finally see again, Fitz and Simmons were yelling, "Do it! Do it!"

I pushed myself. It seemed hard to do. Finally, I hit the hand and ducked as I did. I saw the beam go over my shoulder.

I heard a big, "It worked!" Looking in the mirror, they were gone and the hallway was clear. It hurt so bad. Again in unison, "Skye, what's wrong?"

(Coulson POV)

They were gone in a flash again. I turned around to congratulate Skye and saw her slumping over. "Simmons, quick get Skye." I moved over to hold Skye steady, "What happened?"

"Don't know…hurts." That was all I got from Skye.

Simmons got her parka off and it was obvious. Skye's shoulder had been burned. Simmons pulled out her medical kit and immediately gave Skye a shot.

"Oouuuch," was the whimper from Skye.

I wasn't sure that this was over yet. Two squads of Dark Elves were bad enough, but there could easily be more.

"Okay, new plan. Get the vanity and Skye over to the recreation room. We need to cover everyone in case there are more."

May and Ward got the vanity. Ward nodded and they picked it up together. Nothing turned on. It was dark when they picked it up.

I went and got the scepter. It too had deactivated. Coming back from that hall I got the stool.

Simmons and Fitz were helping Skye over to the recreation room. Simmons was saying, "Be careful. Don't pull her shoulder so high."

Fitz, "Okay. Okay."

Skye chimed in, "I'm good, set the vanity so it faces toward the hallways."

May and Ward nodded at Skye and got the placement set.

I went over to the Captain, "Be best if you got your men back to the sleeping quarters. There could be more coming." He nodded and started to direct his men.

(Skye POV)

I sat on the stool while Simmons cleaned out the wound. I must say that shot was good, some really good happy juice. This did not hurt at all. I was a little surprised.

"Okay, it's cleaned. I have some ointment back at the Bus that will help, but for now I'll just put a pad on this to keep it clean." Simmons opened one of those large square gauze pads and taped it over the area.

I knew I wouldn't have too much time. I pointed to the restroom off the recreation room, "Be right back. I can make it. That shot works." I went as fast as I could through the door and locked it. It was good to use a regular bathroom. Then I had time to fix up the wound a little with my medi-pack. I hadn't shown it to Simmons. It was one of the things I kept from the van.

Getting back to the recreation room, I picked up the scepter. I found the grip to it and got it to light up. Ward and May watched as I did it. I motioned to Ward, "Here. It's turned on. Squeeze here and it should fire."

Ward smiled. He took the specter and fired off a shot down the hall. "Works."

"Okay then," looking up at Simmons and Ward, "Point me in the right direction if any more show up."

They were already moving the vanity. I started the sequence and shot the beam down the hall sending another group to a Frosty World. I got a high five from Simmons and Fitz. They were happy. It was worth it.

I think it was a good thing these Elves couldn't talk to each other. Most of them weren't giving the vanity much thought and would shoot back at Coulson, May and Ward. Had they been able to figure this out, I would have been in real trouble.

(Coulson POV)

I finally got through, "Central, this is Agent Coulson. I am at Outpost Perry. We are under attack by Dark Elves from the Asgardian Nine Worlds. In this case they would be from Svartalheim."

Central came back, "We have similar reports from Greenwich. We are dispatching agents to the location. The RAF has engaged at the scene. We had some reports that Thor was in the area."

I continued, "We have one wounded agent and another twenty or so civilians wounded or in need of medical help. There was another U.S. contingent headed this way. Please obtain their status. Also, there is a Quinn contingent headed this way. We have evidence the prior Quinn people at this location where mining in Antarctic in violation of the treaties covering the region. Persuade the Quinn contingent that they are no longer welcome at this location."

"Okay, we got it. The U.S. contingent is at most an hour away. And the Quinn contingent is grounded."

"Thanks. Out." There were more Elves coming down the hallway. We began firing. Ward using the specter was effective. And in a minute Fitz and Simmons had realigned the vanity and Skye fired down the hall. The Elves were gone again.

"Okay, let's hold our position." We stayed there for some time. Nothing more happened.

"This is Central. The disturbance at Greenwich has ended. The U.S. contingent is in its landing pattern. And we have your next assignment. When you get done there, Director Fury wants you to head up to Greenwich."

**The Bus**

(Skye POV)

It seemed like the next day. I got on the Bus and crashed. It was so good to be in my own bed. And yes, this was my bed now. I wanted this. I could do everything I needed from here. And for a long time, everything was sleeping.

Then Simmons came to wake me up. "Skye, I need to give you a check up."

I was still tried and groggily responded, "I'll meet you down in the lab in a few." When she looked at me, I added, "Yes, I'm up. Just a second." I got out of the bed and got fixed up.

When I met her at the lab, I said, "I just changed the bandage and the area looked good."

She shrugged. I was happy that she did not pull it off and change it again. She went through a regular check up and swabbed my mouth.

Holding it up she said, "I'll check this and see what is so unique."

Next, well, just more fun. I met May down on the mat. I was happy that I stayed up with her and did not favor my shoulder. Thinking about it, I may have over done it. Maybe I should have favored my shoulder. She seemed impressed, so I was happy.

After a shower it was time to go see Coulson, I walked up to his office. I was feeling good after the workout and shower. The shoulder was not hurting, so I was good. Happy with myself, I walked up to his desk and saluted, saying, "Skye, reporting as ordered."

He just looked at me. He pointed to the chair, "Have a seat."

I sat and waited.

He looked at me for a long time. "So explain."

I looked back at him. He did not respond. So I asked, "What?"

"How did you know?"

"Oh, the vanity?" I saw the slight nod. "It was on your computer. Most all of the instructions on the vanity had finished the translation program. I happened to be reading the instructions for sending someone to a specific planet. I selected Jotunheim. It seemed best."

"Well, as Fitz and Simmons said, 'It worked.' Good job. Our weapons were doing little to them."

I was a little interested in what we had collected. "So what happens with the specter and the Tesseract? Can we keep them?"

"Actually, we haven't got instructions yet. Probably after our next stop."

**Greenwich**

I heard Simmons, "In ancient times people believed the heavens were filled with gods, monsters and magical worlds. Then as time passed those beliefs faded into myths and folklore. But now we know those stories were true. Other worlds like Asgard do exist. And beings once revered as gods like Thor have returned. Leaving with more questions and an enormous mess to clean up."

_A/N Okay twisting stories and space continues. Finally, back even with the episodes, but they'll have a few twists too. Hope you enjoy. Definitely AU. Reviews on this one gratefully accepted. My sincere apologies for taking so long to get the update out. Getting back to A B Normal._

_Have a Happy New Year! _


	14. Chapter 14

What do we do now…go on waiting

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"They took our subject off the map in Los Angeles."

-The Girl in the Flower Dress, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**The Interrogator**

**The Bus**

(Skye POV)

It was so good to get back. The little 'fetch and retrieve' of the big stick was nearly a fiasco. The big stick was actually a staff that brought up the worse memories of the person holding the staff and drove them wild. It was the staff weapon of the old Berserkers. The last fight was terrible with the people who initially found pieces of the staff. Professor Randolph, an Asgardian and the original Berserker of this staff, was stabbed with the end of one of the staff pieces. Coulson was able to save Professor Randolph. Ward was fighting off the people who had touched the staff as he had pieces of it. At the end of that fight I almost picked up the staff, as Ward was pretty well out of it, and more people were coming. But May was able to handle it and got the pieces of the staff to come together.

Later when I met Ward at the bar, I could tell the staff induced memories of his brother were still lingering. I tried to get him to talk, even explaining that if it would help, I would rage all the time, but it doesn't. I kidded around and started calling him my ex-SO. But it still didn't help to get him to talk. He finished and went back up stairs. I'd had enough too and went up stairs to my room. I still think it might have been his hand closing May's door, but hey, that's another story entirely.

The next day I finished unpacking and headed down to the Holocomm. It was time for a mission brief. We got together down in the command center. The picture of Agent Shaw was on the scene. Agent Coulson explained that Agent Shaw had been undercover as the Interrogator for the Ossetia Separatists. There were indications that the Separatists had some information, which would blow his cover.

I listened with my eyes wide and concern all over me. Coulson said, "I'm going in to the Separatists as a weapons dealer. While I should be able to pass their first level reviews, eventually my cover will be blown. If the Separatists keep to the normal procedure, I should be shuffled over to the Interrogator for answers as to why I was trying to do this.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has been tracking him for a while and he operates out of an underground base in Siberia. The Separatists should bring me to that operating area and that will give me the opportunity to warn Agent Shaw. Then May and Ward, you'll handle the exit.

"Fitz, Simmons and Skye, you'll have our backs. You'll be tracking what happens and keep the team informed.

"First stop is Turkey. We'll swing over to the Eastern Turkey and I'll work my way up from there." He paused, "I know this is just a skeleton of the operation. You have four hours to get it fleshed out. I'll leave after you brief me on the details."

I was still amazed. Mainly that Coulson would start with such little detail.

I looked at him when I brought out my laptop, "Cleared to go?" He nodded and I started in. I had access to the Bus server and the information connected to it. I worked on the main operating area of Agent Shaw first. I was able to get full details on the underground buildings involved and sent that to the team. Then I quickly had the positions of the Separatists and their operating bases. I concentrated on the weapons inventory and supplies. I figured that Coulson could use that in his position as a weapons dealer. Then I started getting some information on the people involved. And finally, I worked on outlining the path that would be taken to get Coulson all the way over to Siberia.

I did wonder, why we couldn't just drop him off in Siberia and let him be taken to Agent Shaw.

That was when May showed up. I looked up, "And?"

"It's on auto. Come on, we have time."

I knew actually what she intended, another work out on the mat. She must be tense. I'd try to figure out what was wrong and go from there. I nodded, saved where I was and got up.

I got to the mat. She was already going through her warm-up. I joined her matching move for move. She was fluid and I tried to make sure you couldn't tell us a part.

"Concerned about the mission?" it was worth asking. Of course it got no reaction.

"I mean Coulson going in there by himself." She did not flinch. "I know you guys go in by yourselves. And I know you and Ward will be providing back up. And I am not saying that he can't do it. Certainly he has handled many missions like this before." I paused a second trying to remember, "Wait all the missions I have heard of he's always had a partner or a team with him. The last solo fight didn't go to well."

I could tell she was not happy, just a trace. Her face seemed to harden. Of course, that's when it ended. She took the attack position. I thought the Berserker effect was all over, but right now it was all over me. May was going full tilt. I blocked each kick, punch and move. I finally noticed that for some reason she was repeating her moves. It was like she had gotten into a smooth system and it was working for her. But it had a flaw. When the repetition started, there was an opening. I took it and she was flat on the mat.

I couldn't help it, "You okay." Wrong thing to say. It took another five-minutes before I found another opening. I threw it in, "Okay, so we'll be with him all the time. When he gets with Agent Shaw, we'll get you and Ward there within the second." Again just barely noticeable her face seemed to soften.

And of course I haven't learned May completely, I asked, "Any other problem?" Another five-minute spar and I was flattened against the wall. I could see in her eye it was more than Coulson. Something else was bothering her. She shook her head and walked off.

_Oh boy._

(Coulson POV)

May came into my office. This was unusual. "Problem?"

"You going alone."

"I know you'll be following it all the way and you have the extraction. It will work."

"Don't agree to another."

I nodded. "Something else?"

"Skye, she is healed and doing very good."

I nodded and she left. Skye being healed so quickly from the burn of a Dark Elf's weapon presented some interesting questions. Was she like Professor Randolph, some kind of Asgardian? Is that why Doc Streiten thought her DNA was unique? Or was something else going on? We definitely needed to get back to the Hub after this. I needed some more information.

I collected my cover materials and put on a fresh suit. It was time for the briefings.

I stopped by Simmons first, "Anything on Skye's DNA?"

"Oh no, the analyzer is down. Fitz will get it fixed after we get you on your way." She smiled at me.

(Skye POV)

We finished too fast or something. He was already off the Bus. Fitz and Simmons had fitted him with triple redundant trackers. He even had a fairly decent microphone planted and hidden in his ear that was connected to our system.

With the information I gave him, he would pass as a reliable arms dealer, if there were such a thing. Fitz gave him a couple samples to use as an introduction. One was a lightweight hand grenade which after thrown could get an extra twenty yards on the toss. The next was an interesting little stick-on bomb. For this one you would put it on the hinges of the door. Fitz simply said, "It would blow them apart."

So now it was a couple anxious days tracking his progress. We went in shifts down at the command center watching and listening to every move on the Holocomm. We were into it with everything. We listened into his initial contact, the first interview and sales pitch and the demonstration of the hand grenade.

May and I were on shift when his cover was blown. That was extremely hard to listen to. We knew he had been beaten fairly severely. As we briefed the others and our shift changed, it was another fun time down at the mat. This time it was closer to ten minutes before I got an opening.

I mistakenly said, "It went as planned." That cost me another ten minutes, this time I was not forced against the wall. I got her on the mat.

At that point Ward called down and said, "They are taking him to the Interrogator. We're up."

May spent the first thirty minutes avoiding detection and landed the bus near the exit port we identified from the underground drawings. We met down at the lab. Fitz and Simmons fitted May and Ward with the same trackers and microphones. They did have regular communications with them and a full set of weapons. They left to get Coulson.

To say I was happy and still very anxious would be an understatement.

I loved Coulson when he started on the mold problem. At that point I knew things were going okay. May and Ward were just a few hundred yards away from the lab. They had already dispatched a few roving patrols. We just needed Agent Shaw to show up to complete the mission.

Okay, I heard my AC get smashed in the mouth. That was about the same time Ward and May took out another patrol. And then we heard Coulson say, "You have the Intell on you." That phrase started the final dance.

The guards around Coulson and Shaw were down and I heard May say, "Follow me."

Coulson must have seen some of the roving patrols when he said, "I was wondering what you guys had been up to."

We heard the wheel opening the door of the hatch and Coulson say, "Go."

From the zoom camera on the Bus we could see the four of them get on the sleds. Shaw asked, "Where's the dogs?" And Fitz was laughing uncontrolled. He absolutely loved it.

Later I was sitting with Fitz. I agreed with him, the extraction had gone fine. The extraction of something from Agent Shaw's sinuses was well, best handled by Simmons. When it was done we saw Coulson holding the chip.

Fitz asked, "Do you need me to analyze the data."

I chimed in, "If it's encrypted, I can copy the chip for him."

And then Coulson caught me completely off guard, "I am afraid this mission is classified, clearance level eight."

"Aahhh," was all I could get out. As I watched him walk away, I turned to the others. Fitz and Simmons were there along with Ward and May, "He can just shut us out of the process like that?" There was no way we should get shut out of this.

Fitz causally replied, "Well, he did say the mission is clearance level eight."

"And we're not, so we can't know about it." Simmons supplied at the end.

Okay things, just spiraled down after that. Fitz implied that I was spewing out Socialist rift, and I got another lesson in spy craft and compartmentalization.

May finished it up, "Coulson has got you use to the plane. The way we do missions here. The Hub is different."

"The Hub? What's the Hub?"

_A/N Okay like I said before, we'll be twisting stories and episodes. Hope you enjoy. Definitely AU. Reviews on this one gratefully accepted. _


	15. Chapter 15

What do we do now…go on waiting

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard. Spoilers for "The Hub" and acknowledgement that this is mainly from the script of the show by Rafe Judkins (Survivor Season 11 and writer for Chuck) & Lauren LeFranc. Hat's off to them.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"They took our subject off the map in Los Angeles."

-The Girl in the Flower Dress, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

H.A.M.M.E.R.

**The Hub**

(Skye POV)

Looking down at the Bus from the Hub's hanger was impressive. This was huge. I knew I had my work cut out for me. This would be my chance to get it.

We followed Coulson down the hall. We walked for quite a while. I was impressed again, "I didn't realize Big Brother was this…big."

Simmons reacted by saying, "Oh, this is nothing wait until you see the Triskelion." I knew from before that was the headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Then it struck me. Okay this was almost comical, "Everyone is wearing the same suit. Someone tell me why, please." I watched as everyone passed us. It was like a uniform, but these were just business suits.

We walked on and came to a security post. Coulson and the team picked up badges as we went through a scanner and by a security counter. I got nothing. I had to ask, "Do I get one?"

"That's your badge," Coulson pointed to my bracelet. "Which means you have a long way to go before you even make level one."

Then I saw the sign with the arrow pointing to H.A.M.M.E.R. but knew I had to answer, "Copy that." Then I had to know how difficult this was going to be. "Does that mean no access to computers here what so ever?" I had to state the obvious, "I could run a search on the redacted S.H.I.E.L.D. file of my parents."

"Skye," Coulson said in a kindly voice. I almost melted at his word.

But I needed to complete this, "It just seems like the place they would keep them right?"

He replied, "I'll look into it but right now we have more pressing matters at hand."

I knew that made matters even harder.

Coulson looked forward to the man that was coming out of a large room. "Agent Sitwell."

He got a quick reply, "Agent Coulson, good to see you're feeling better. Agent Hand is waiting for you in the situation room."

I heard Coulson say, "She doesn't like to wait."

Sitwell asked, "So you know her?"

Coulson shrugged, "Only her reputation." They got to the door and Coulson waived at the security reader, "After you."

Sitwell turned and added, "Your level sevens can join us in the briefing."

We kept walking. I heard something but did not really understand what it was. Sitwell, Coulson, May and Ward went through the security. As I walked I heard Simmons in back of me say in astonishment, "Victoria Hand."

Fitz completed it, "Is here."

I just kept walking to the room. And then it happened, the security panel acted as a magnet, pulling the bracelet to the wall. I thought for a second it was on fire as the bracelet started flashing red.

Then I heard Fitz call out, "Ouch."

Coulson was of course nice enough to come back out and see me stuck there. I asked, "Is this your subtle way of saying I can't come with?"

"We'll be back," he smiled as he went back in the room.

I watched Fitz and Simmons walk off. I muttered, "I don't think it likes me here." I waited and waited. Finally Coulson came out and my bracelet came free. Ward and May came up and Fitz and Simmons came around the corner.

Coulson pointed to a room across the hall. "Let's go over there for a second." We filed into the room and stood around waiting for Coulson to begin. He started, "Ward and Fitz have a mission assigned. The details are classified. It's called Operation Overkill. Basically they have to go to South Ossetia and deactivate a device." He pointed to May and Ward and said, "We'll brief Fitz on his part of the mission." Fitz was certainly overwhelmed but he was recovering. "Simmons, please show Skye to the cafeteria. We'll meet at the main hall in thirty minutes."

Well, I was out of it again. Beside the fact that we were a team and we needed to stay that way. I really did not like the idea of getting rolled by Big Bother S.H.I.E.L.D or the Hub rules. I did not like this. It did not feel right. With all the planning they could do at a place like this, and all the assets they had, picking Fitz for a mission was not the best option. I'd work on Simmons a little. Build a better relationship with her. I mean I did like her. She was like my little sister, if I had one. And I needed to work her relationship with Fitz.

**The Bus**

(Skye POV—con't.)

I had just watched Fitz and Ward leave the Holocomm with their tactical gear, ready for the mission. Simmons was obviously distressed. She gave a happy smile with a wrinkled nose to Fitz but I could see it was only superficial. And I caught a look by Ward and follow-up by May, something was happening. I watched as an unhappy Simmons left the room and a more stoic than usual May walked out. That left Coulson standing by the Holocomm.

I just had to ask Coulson about it. "Does this feel okay to you? Shouldn't we be going with them?"

I got the standard Agent Coulson reply, "The people who put these ops together are the best of the best. They know what they are doing." He just walked out of the room.

I thought about that, but it was not right. Even with someone as trained as Ward, you don't send another as untrained as Fitz into the middle of the fray. Not without immediate backup and support.

In a while I was down in the lab with May and Simmons. We were putting things away and a detail was taking the remnants of the Greenwich find off the plane. One of them bumped into the stand with the gun Fitz was working on. Simmons ruched to protect it, "Oh, oh no, please be careful. Can you imagine what Fitz would do if the Night-Night gun was broken when he came back? Surely he'll be okay out there. Right?"

"Well, Agent May is level seven. She could give an update on their mission." She looked at me like it was a serious match at the mat and I was about to have my head cut off. "Does that mean, you know something and can't tell us or you don't know anything? Which non-expression is this?"

"We know what we are suppose to," a simple statement to mash any hope. "When we have more information, we'll react." May kept working on her data pad, and then she turned and said, "Alright clear out. I need to run some diagnostics and reboot."

"You guys might be okay with being in the dark, but I am not into it. I need answers. And I know just the person who has them."

Simmons crunched her face asking, "Who?"

"Coulson. Obviously talking about Coulson."

**The Hub**

(Skye POV—con't.)

I came back into the Hub and boy it was busy. People were going everywhere. And there were more of them than when we first got here. I told Simmons to meet me at the main hall in ten minutes, that I would track down Coulson.

It gave me some time to check things out. There were security checkpoints, but like I said a lot of people in the hallways, break rooms and restrooms.

I went back to the main hall and saw Simmons coming up. Coulson was in the hall and I caught up with him, "Hey, fancy seeing you here."

"Skye, I told you I would look into the file about your parents." I could see he was a little upset with me being here.

"No, I know. That's not why I'm here. May is doing some diagnostic on the Bus and got everyone off. And while I am here, I wanted to know more about Ward and Fitz's mission." I saw Simmons ahead attempting to hide behind a column. Not good. "Simmons is seriously starting to unravel without Fitz."

His jaw tightened. "I know it's hard to hear but you don't have the clearance."

I just could not let this go, "But I have eyes. I just saw six squads in full tactical gear, three crates of RPGs and a full crew of analysts heading into operations. Are you really telling me that has nothing to do with Ward and Fitz's mission?" He turned looking at me, not happy. "If I am right, give me a signal by not saying anything."

"Trust the system", and he walked away.

I was so unhappy with him. I folded my arms watching him walk off.

Simmons came up from behind the column, "How'd it go?"

"Nothing, he is acting like a robot version of himself right now." I watched as he turned the corner and went out of sight. I looked at Simmons, "If we want the truth, we're got to get it ourselves."

"Okay, how do you suggest…" She saw my smile, "Oh wait no…" I just kept nodding, "No."

I continued to nod, "Yes."

"No," the stark realization was in her eyes, "I can't be a part of your bad girl shenanigans. I like following the rules and do what is expected of me. Makes me feel nice."

I had to get to her. "Simmons, wake up. Ward and Fitz went on a top-secret two-man operation. And look there are more men. And either it's a bigger deal and they're not telling us or something went wrong out there. Maybe there's nothing we can do to help but we got to know if there is. What if they're injured or being tortured somewhere right now?"

It was like the light bulb came on, "Fitz tortured? What exactly do you have in mind?"

Well, we planned it. Now I remembered why I thought it was such a bad idea to put Fitz out there without backup immediately available. I went over everything at least three times. I would have done more but I had a bad feeling that we were running out of time.

Finally we got it together and I got her up to a scanner for the corridor we would use. The scanner said, "Say cheese." Simmons looked into the scanner and her ID came up. I still can't figure out why S.H.I.E.L.D. picked such a cheesy piece of Hammer Tech.

"Okay, here's the flash drive. Go." I watched her walk up the hall and kept explaining over our comm net, "I programmed it with a decoy crawler. It will use my browser history to simulate my usual on-line activity. So while S.H.I.E.L.D. thinks I am trolling or on my Facebook page with the laptop you gave me…"

She continued, "You'll be hacking the files for the Ward and Fitz mission."

"Right and remember, once you pull it in you'll only have about…"

She did it again, "Three minutes before S.H.I.E.L.D. catches on."

"You realize you keep finishing my…"

"Sentences. I know. I'm sorry that happened." Simmons looked around as a few people passed her. She smiled back at me, "This is actually a bit thrilling."

I was so amazed, "Ah good, I'm glad." Typical rookie. If there was any other choice, "Now we just need to figure out a way to get the panel open."

She smiled back at me and held up a silver tube. She happily said, "Don't worry. Made a special something. It's what we do." Something happened, there was a new light shinning on her. "All done."

Surprises never end. "Really? Well, okay, now just find a USB port." I directed her to back on the mission.

"Agent Simmons," Agent Sitwell said.

Okay, another surprise, "It's fine. Just play it cool." You can only hope.

"Hello, Mister Agent Sitwell, sir. May I help you?" Simmons smiled at him.

"Call me Jasper," he responded.

Okay it was getting creepy. I knew I didn't like him.

"I like men that are about my height, but heavier than me." Simmons was spiraling again.

This was getting bad. I said, "Stop talking. Stop."

Sitwell looked at her, "Agent Simmons, do you have authorization to access that panel?"

Oh come on. Simmons you have to respond, when she did not immediately respond I said, "Say you do."

"Of course. Of course. I certainly have it right here in my bag." She was looking in her bag and then said, "He's on to me."

Oh crap, "Don't talk to me. He can hear you." This was going down.

"Are you on comms with someone?" Sitwell held up his phone, "This is Agent Sitwell, I…"

I could hardly believe it. She used the Night-Night gun on Sitwell. I think I even heard the telltale 'zap.'

"Sorry," Simmons watched him fall to the ground.

I could not believe it. This was certainly it, "Oh my God, oh my God…"

At least she continued to work at the panel. I heard her say, "Huh" in accomplishing her mission. She dragged Sitwell out of sight and started walking back. "I definitely shot Agent Sitwell with my gun. Was that all right?"

What was she…right the rookie. "That was terrible. You were terrible at this that was a total melt down."

She just started trying to explain it, "The Night-Night gun was right there."

"You need help." Well, we both needed help. We might have to do something with Sitwell. "You need to go get May."

"May, nooo…" she was losing it.

"Listen." I had to get her to get through this. "That flash drive will only give me a few minutes of access to the Hub's mainframe to find out what happened to our boys, so just go get May. Just tell her that it was an accident."

She gave me the drive saying, "I'm going to get court-martialed."

_A/N Okay like I said before, we'll be twisting stories and episodes. Hope you enjoy. Definitely AU. Reviews on this one gratefully accepted. _


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